A Woman of Letters

She had been against coming back to the Pavilion at all, had begged Xavier to find an inn instead, but he had insisted that it would be the best place and they would get a good discount on their rooms because he knew the proprietress.

Of course he’s getting a good discount on a room if he’s sharing it with someone, Ariadne bitterly snapped to herself, her fists clenching tighter around the tray of food. She doubted Xavier would be so lucky for her to find him in the presence of a rabbit this time.

She made her way to the room that had been indicated to her. She reached out to knock when she heard surprised gasps and titters coming from within, punctuated by Xavier’s soft, slightly hesitant voice.

“Here, we’ll help you with your clothes!”

“Ah…it’s alright, I can do it myself.”

“No, no! You’re hurt.”

“Lay down, Xavier, we’ll take care of you.”

“That’s quite unnecessary—oh…”

“My, my, what a fine form you have, Xavier!”

“Built like a man who wields a sword!”

“And I bet he wields it well indeed!”

“Oh, undoubtedly!—Both swords…”

The accompanying giggles had Ariadne pushing the door open without preamble, stopping in the doorway to cast a disparaging look at the scene in front of her.

Xavier lay against a pile of luxurious pillows, surrounded by no less than five of Ms. Liu’s beautiful girls. His outer robes had been taken and cast aside, while his undershirt had been opened and pulled down to his waist. One girl was holding a bowl of water, another was applying a cloth to his wound, while yet another tore bandages. One held his hand tenderly, and other braided his hair back, stroking the luxuriously locks—a sight which made Ariadne’s fingers twitch in envy. Fury boiled up inside of her.

They all looked up as Ariadne came in, anger obvious on her face. The girls’ heckles raised and Xavier stared at her with an astonishingly pitiable look as if he were begging her to come help him.

Ariadne swallowed hard, wetting her lips. She hated to admit how much the sight of his bare torso was affecting her. Her eyes trailed briefly down his—indeed—finely formed chest and abdomen before dragging back up to his face as her resolve returned.

He could perish for all she cared.

She stepped forward and set the tray of food down on a nearby table so hard that some of the soup spilled and the clatter echoed pointedly through the room.

“I brought you supper,” she said shortly. “But I see you already have enough attendants to make sure you have what you need, so I’ll take my leave.”

She spun on her heel, not wanting to see another second of this ridiculous scene.

A rustling and sharp breath from Xavier came behind her. “Ariadne—mmph.”

“Lay down, Xavier!”

“Don’t move, we need to finish cleaning the wound.”

“You poor thing, here, let me feed you.”

The sound of the women fussing made Ariadne see red and she shut the door a little hard behind her. She stood there for a long moment before heading back to her chambers. Xavier could suffer the consequences of his own actions. She would give him no aid. It’s what he deserved for allowing those woman to fawn over him like that.

It had already been bad enough when he had been injured in another one of his ridiculous duels that she had warned him against engaging in, aware the opponent was a man known for tricks. And sure enough, Xavier’s skills and confidence had only gotten him so far, leaving him with sand in his eyes and a gash across the ribs.

The injury had indeed been shocking in the moment, Ariadne had rarely seen Xavier injured since he was so skilled with the blade, but her worry had been blown away in the wind as Xavier shook off her attempted care, insisting they return to the town instead. And then he only made it worse by insisting they stay at Ms. Liu’s.

Why am I so upset? Ariadne wondered in annoyance, splashing cold water on her face once she got back to her room before angrily throwing her sword belt and outer clothing to one side, planning to dress for bed. Her eye caught on the trunk sitting against the side of the wall and her stomach twisted slightly. She recalled the beautiful dresses Xavier bought her last time they were here. She turned her nose up at it. She’d never let him see her in something like that again. He could eat dirt if all he wanted to do was pay attentions to women like Ms. Liu’s girls.

But her clothes were dirty from travel and she felt grimy. The temptation to wear something clean overcame her anger, and she opened the trunk, rummaging around the fine materials until she pulled out a delicate nightgown. Her fingers slid across the silky material and with a sigh, she set it on the bed, washing up a little before slipping into it.

The silk felt luxurious against her skin and she briefly caught sight of herself in the mirror, barely recognizing the young woman standing there. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the delicate purple nightgown on her body—she actually looked…pretty.

Would Xavier think so too?

She instantly flushed, turning away, wanting to take the nightgown off again at the very thought of him seeing her in it. She knew she still wasn’t as pretty as any of Ms. Liu’s girls. Her skin had been touched by the sun from her travels and her hands were rough from years of practice with the sword; she was sure Xavier would find their tending to his wounds much more pleasant.

She huffed as she slumped down onto her bed, punching the pillow rather violently before yanking the covers over herself.

She hoped he would recover swiftly so she could beat him for all the annoyance he put her through.

Despite her tumultuous feelings, she was quite exhausted and fell asleep easily. The moonlight shining on her face through the window.

***

Xavier watched as Ariadne stormed out of the room, an odd feeling settling in his gut before he was instantly swarmed again.

“Here, your wound is clean—does it hurt?”

“It’s fine,” he tried to reassure them, glancing at the bloody water smeared across his skin with little skill as his wound was gently dabbed. He made to push himself up, only to have his hair tugged.

“Careful! You’ll hurt him!”

“Xavier, I’m still braiding your hair! Stay still!”

He squirmed, flushing as one of them approached with bandages, practically embracing him as she began to wrap them around his torso, hands connecting with his skin far too often.

“You poor thing, you’re so brave, Xavier, enduring this injury with the utmost manliness.”

“Well, it’s not so bad…”

“Here, please drink some of this for the pain.”

“Oh, no, I—”

Before he could finish his protest, a small cup of strong wine was pressed to his lips and he was forced to drink it down or choke. The liquid burned down his throat, settling into his stomach.

“Have another glass, wine is medicinal!”

“I really—”

Delicate hands grabbed his chin, holding him still as he was forced to drink yet more wine to the light giggles of his captors.

The girls made it impossible for him to get up, fingers tangled in his hair, rubbing his shoulders and arms, one practically sitting in his lap as she fed him the food Ariadne had brought him.

Ariadne…he needed to go find her.

“I’m terribly sorry, but I need to go find my junior…”

“Oh, she’s fine,” one of the girls said quickly. “I’m sure she’s already asleep.”

“Yes, you wouldn’t want to disturb her, would you?”

“Besides, Xavier, you need to rest! Your wound won’t heal if you don’t!”

“Here, have some more wine to help you sleep.”

Another cup forced on him. His head was starting to feel fuzzy.

“How about a bath?”

“Oh yes! We can bathe you right here so you don’t even have to move!”

“No, thank you, I…would rather rest.”

He yet again tried to get up only to be pushed back against the cushions.

“Rest here, Xavier, you shouldn’t be getting up.”

“No, please, sleep here. We’ll look after you tonight.”

Another cup of wine was forced between his lips as he decided laying down was the only option. His body did hurt anyway, and Ariadne was mad at him. She wouldn’t be any less mad if he went to find her tonight. Best to wait for tomorrow morning.

His eyelids fluttered as he felt warm bodies press close to him. Part of him wished it was just one woman, but he had made Ariadne mad and would be unlikely to get this kind of treatment from her, ever. He would have to make it up to her somehow, but for tonight, he would rest.

***

Ariadne slept deeply despite her tumultuous mind. Yet something woke her in the dead of night when the rest of the Pavillion was silent.

A fumbling at her door, accompanied by heavy, shuffling steps.

Her hand reached unconsciously for her sword where it rested beside her mattress and as she felt, rather than saw, the figure looming over her, she rolled over, about to brandish the blade when…

“Ah!”

The figure simply collapsed onto her mattress, familiar silvery hair glowing in the moonlight as the heavy figure wrapped his arms around her legs, nuzzling his face into her knees like a pillow.

“Xavier!”

“Mm, found you—was looking everywhere.”

His words were slightly slurred—was he sleep walking? But no, the telltale scent of wine drifted up to her.

“Are you drunk?” she demanded in disgust.

“Hm? Oh, yes…the girls made me drink.”

Ariadne huffed and shoved him off her legs. He sprawled to the side and let out a small, pained grunt.

Brief guilt washed over her as she remembered his wound. “You should go back to bed,” she said, starting to get up. “Come here, I’ll help you.”

She threw back the covers, and only as Xavier’s eyes fell on her figure with slight, drunken surprise, did she remember what she was wearing.

“It looks nice on you,” Xavier said softly, suddenly not sounding drunk enough.

She snatched the blanket back up to her neck. “I-I didn’t have anything else clean!”

Xavier swayed closer, practically crawling on top of her. “Please don’ make me leave,” he murmured. “Too tired to…”

His head drooped dangerously close to her chest and she reached out to grab his shoulders before he made a soft landing against her breasts.

“Xavier, you…” she trailed off as she felt the heat pouring off of him. She reached up to press a hand to his forehead, finding him indeed fevered.

“Xavier, you have a fever,” she murmured.

“Mmm,” he moaned a little, trying to chase her hand as she pulled it away and shifted so she could lay him down on the mattress, giving up the idea of getting him back to his room at the moment.

“Stay here.”

She got up to light some lanterns, finally illuminating the room. It revealed how flushed Xavier’s face was, and she knew it wasn’t all from the wine now. Sweat beaded on his brow and he curled slightly onto his uninjured side.

“I’m going to go get some things for you. Stay here.”

He looked forlorn lying there, and it was almost enough to make her sorry for her feelings toward him earlier. Almost. She wouldn’t forget that he only bothered to seek her out second.

She was quick to fetch what she needed, coming back to the room with bandages, cloths, a bowl of water as well as some salves and a brewing cup of tea that would help reduce his fever.

“Let me see it,” she said.

Xavier’s brow furrowed but he dutifully rolled onto his back. Ariadne carefully undid the ties on his loose undershirt and opened it up, revealing the haphazard bandages, blood already soaking through them.

She clicked her tongue. “Those girls did nothing for you.”

“They were only trying to help,” Xavier murmured.

“The only thing they did was get you drunk,” Ariadne snapped.

She reached out to undo the bandages and Xavier hissed as the dried blood stuck to the bandage from a lack of proper cleaning, leaving the little scabbing that had occurred to be ripped off, causing the wound to bleed again.

Ariadne lips formed a thin line as she pressed a cloth to the wound once she had finally freed it of the soiled bandages.

“You must have a wound fever,” she said, brows pinching in slight worry. “You should have let me tend to this first thing!”

Xavier looked away, avoidant. Ariadne ignored him and reached for a wet cloth, wringing it out before she cleaned the wound properly. Xavier flinched and whined, the wine making him more honest.

“It stings…can you be more gentle?”

“No,” Ariadne replied. “You might have gotten gentler ministrations from those girls, but they didn’t do you any favors. A wound needs to be cleaned properly.”

His brows scrunched as she refused to stop and coddle him. Ariadne ignored him for the most part, but she couldn’t deny his pain hurt her. The wound was a lot worse than she had thought too. It stretched about five inches across his left ribcage and was quite deep. Not deep enough to need stitches, she thought, but enough that it would need tending and proper care.

She reached for a salve and started to spread it on before bandaging him again and he flinched and grabbed her wrist.

“Hurts.”

“Yes, I know. That means it’s healing.”

He frowned and turned his face away as she continued. When she was finally done, she set a clean cloth over the wound and reached for the bandages.

“I need you to sit up for a moment.”

He sighed and tried to push himself up. Ariadne helped him, getting him into a sitting position and started to wrap the bandages around his torso when Xavier slumped against her.

She froze in shock at the sudden proximity, his hot, bare chest pressed against her as he nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck, seeming to be completely shameless at the moment.

She swallowed hard, reminding herself that he was drunk, and it was better to just get this over with. She easily wrapped the bandages around him, trying to ignore the touch of his bare skin. Why was she just thinking of it now when she didn’t have his wound to occupy her?

Finally, the agonizing event was over and she let him slump back against the pillows, quickly tying his shirt up again so she didn’t have to be tormented by his well-formed figure.

“Okay, now I have some medicine for your fever. You need to drink all of it.”

He moaned, trying to turn his head away as she picked up the teacup and pressed it to his lips.

“Don’t be difficult.”

He cringed and coughed as he swallowed the first mouthful. “It’s bitter.”

She was unrelenting though, making him drink the rest of it. “You drank their wine, now you have to drink my tea.”

He coughed again, pulling a face, but she was satisfied that he swallowed it.

“May I have some sugar now?”

“No, you’re a grown man. You don’t been to be pampered like a child,” Ariadne told him firmly.

“My Junior is indeed cruel,” he sighed, settling back against the pillows.

Ariadne pressed her lips into an angry line as she tossed the soiled cloths back onto the tray. “You need to rest.”

“You’re angry with me. Why?”

Ariadne scoffed. “You don’t know?”

“I’m sorry I fought the duel when you told me not to.”

She spun around to face him. “You think that’s the only reason?”

He stared at her with those wide, too-innocent eyes in the darkness.

“It was bad enough you didn’t explain to me who Lady Rong was when we first came here, but this time, you ended up precisely where I thought you would be then!”

He looked away slightly, eyes flicking to watch the flame dancing in one of the lanterns.

“I thought I would give you time to cool off.”

“Cool off!” Ariadne demanded, suddenly incensed. “And let me see you with a bunch of random women fawning over you and touching you like that?”

“I see it really bothered you,” Xavier said slowly.

She loomed over him. “I just don’t understand what you want from me, Xavier! I never have. You’re so incredibly infuriating that I—”

He tugged on her arm and she suddenly found himself pulled toward him. She barely caught herself before she fell on him and injured him further, but Xavier’s hand was already on the back of her neck, pulling her in.

“What are you—”

His lips met hers. All breath left her body, as she stared at his closed lids, her own eyes wide. She was too much in shock to pull away, the soft, warm press of his lips with the lingering taste of the tea and wine were all she knew for what felt like an eternity.

Xavier finally pulled back, opening his eyes halfway. “The taste is less bitter now,” he whispered.

Heat flushed through Ariadne like a tidal wave. How could he just say something like that?

“Wha—are you—are you trying to seduce me to make me less angry?”

He looked genuinely confused this time. “No. I’ve just wanted to do that for a while.”

An embarrassing sound left her throat. She had to remind herself that he was drunk and fevered, that this was a result of that combination. She should certainly not be thinking too much about it. But before she could reprimand him further (or say anything to make this worse) his eyes fluttered and he let out a genuine sound of discomfort.

“Xavier?”

She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead and found his fever still rather hot. It would take a while for the tea to work.

She fetched a clean cloth and wrung it out in the fresh bowl of water before pressing it to his forehead, bathing his face and neck.

He seemed to relax slightly and reached up to take her hand. “Thank you for taking care of me anyway. Even if you’re mad.”

Her resolve wavered. She refused to admit that it was partly due to the kiss. At the end of the day, she just hated seeing him hurt like this.

She sighed and resigned herself to letting him have her bed that night, pulling the blanket up over his shivering figure.

“Don’t worry about it, Xavier. Just rest.”

She was about to get up, but his hand was still clutched around her wrist.

“Stay,” he murmured.

She shouldn’t allow this. It was highly inappropriate. And yet, he shouldn’t be left alone that night, in case his fever took a turn for the worst.

Either way, he was already tugging her down onto the mattress, and Ariadne ended up allowing it, despite her better judgement.

She curled slightly awkwardly onto her side, facing away from him as Xavier settled in, cuddling against her back as he wrapped his arms around her waist. His breathing evened out quickly into deep sleep.

It should have been uncomfortable, it should have been awkward, but all she could think of was how warm and nice it felt to be like this.

His warmth and breathing lulled her to sleep before she could even fight the urge.

***

Ariadne slept deeply, and woke to an impossibly warm blanket and sunlight filtered through the window, accompanied by singing birds.

She blinked a few times, before fully realizing that Xavier was sleeping with his head on her chest. Her stomach flipped slightly as all the memories of the previous night filtered in. Particularly the kiss. Had that even happened? It was too real to be a dream, she decided. The memory of how his lips felt…

But reality crept in and she reached a hand to his face to check his fever. His brow and neck were damp, and she was relieved to see that he was less warm, his fever had finally broken.

Taking advantage of his sleeping state, she brushed his hair away from his face, stroking the silky strands between her fingers. There were several mussed braids left in from the girls’ ministrations the night before and Ariadne spitefully started to undo all of them, smoothing Xavier’s hair against his back.

A soft murmur came from him as he nuzzled closer to her, pressing his nose against her collarbone. Ariadne froze instinctively, heart flipping as an unbidden affection rose up, stronger than she had ever allowed herself to feel before.

Xavier blinked his eyes open and shifted so that he could stare at her blearily. “Good morning,” he said hoarsely.

It took everything in Ariadne to keep her cheeks from heating. “Good morning. How do you feel?’

“Mm, tired, my wound aches a little and my head…” he cringed.

“Well, you drank a lot last night, apparently, so that’s understandable.”

He furrowed his brow as Ariadne reluctantly got up, shifting him back against the mattress.

Xavier frowned at the loss of warmth as she got up to get him a cup of water.

“I’ll check your wound in a moment,” she told him, handing him the cup.

Xavier downed the water thirstily as Ariadne gathered fresh bandages and salve.

When he set the empty cup aside, she knelt beside him. “Okay, let me look at the wound.”

He nodded and pushed the blankets down, fumbling to untie his shirt.

Ariadne glanced away briefly. This was not the same as it had been last night when he was drunk and fevered. When he had…

She bit the inside of her cheek to stop thinking about the kiss. Xavier probably didn’t even remember that. He hadn’t been in a clear state of mind anyway.

When she turned back to him, she was glad to see that he hadn’t bled through the bandages again. But the fever breaking had left them damp so she decided it best to change them.

She braced herself for the close proximity, trying to be ambivalent about Xavier’s muscled chest and stomach, especially as she felt those lean muscles shift under her fingers as he flinched at her application of the salve.

She was sure her face was red all the same by the time she had finished bandaging him up.

“There…it’s looking good.”

“That’s good,” Xavier replied simply.

Before she could help him tie his shirt back up, voices could be heard in the hallway outside, leaving them both to freeze.

“I don’t know where he is! He was gone when we got up.”

“Why would he wander off?”

“What if he’s lying hurt in a dark closet somewhere!”

“Xavier! Where are you?”

Ariadne swore and one desperate look from Xavier had her shoving him onto her mattress and yanking the covers up over his head as she slid in next to him.

It was hot under the blanket with his shared warmth, his breath grazing her chin, hair tickling her cheek. Her heart pounded impossibly fast and it had nothing to do with the possibility of being found out.

The footsteps stopped outside the door, whispering ensued until finally a knock came on Ariadne’s door.

Her and Xavier both jumped. Xavier grabbed her wrist, as if begging her not to give him up.

Ariadne waited for another knock before she called out, “What is it?”

“Miss Ariadne, have you seen Xavier anywhere?”

“No,” she replied simply.

“Ah…never mind.”

Their footsteps retreated, leaving Ariadne and Xavier to both sag in relief.

“Ugh, we should get out of here today, they’re not going to leave you alone—”

Her words were halted as Xavier pulled her back under the blankets and pressed his lips to hers. She was just as shocked as she was the night before, staring at him blankly as he pulled away, eyes slightly shadowed underneath the blanket.

“Xavier—”

“Sorry,” he said in a way that made it clear he wasn’t sorry at all. “I just wanted you to know that I remembered last night, but figured you thought it didn’t count since I was drunk and fevered. I wanted to make sure you understood my true feelings.”

Ariadne flushed, covering her face with her hands as Xavier’s lips curled up.

“You’re impossible,” she said.

“You didn’t like it?”

“I didn’t say that!”

“Mm,” he hummed and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. “Then let us stay like this for a while longer? I’m tired and injured. I don’t want to face those girls again right now. I didn’t intend to get caught by them originally, you know. I would always rather have you tend to my injuries—even if you aren’t the most gentle.”

Ariadne laughed despite herself. “Then make sure I’m the first one you ask to tend your injuries in the future. No more seeking attention from other women.”

It took her only a moment before she stepped forward.

“Rhys?” she called and the young hybrid flinched slightly at the sound of his name.

“Who’s asking?” he asked, voice sharp, but holding a fragile undertone.

She provided a smile. “My name’s Natalia; you’re at the hospital in Tulsa now, Rhys.” She glanced up at the paramedics. “Are the restraints necessary?”

“He kept trying to refuse treatment,” one of the paramedics informed her. “He was at risk of hurting himself. His lungs and heart are also weak, so we’ve been trying to keep him calm.”

“I think it will calm him down more if you take the restraints off now,” Natalia said firmly.

The paramedics nodded and started to unstrap Rhys from the gurney.

Considering his current state, Natalia hadn’t really been expecting Rhys to instantly push himself up and swing his legs over the gurney. He tried to make a break for it, but the second his feet hit the floor his legs started to fold under him.

Natalia and one of the paramedics stepped forward and caught him before he could fall. He flinched and instantly tried to pull out of their grasp, breath quickening as his eyes flashed in panic.

“Rhys,” Natalia spoke with a firm voice, breaking through the growing panic. “I need you to calm down now. Take deep breaths and get back on the gurney.”

He was shaking and she could feel the shudders wrack through his thin frame. She could feel every bone under his tattered clothes. He seemed to be highly malnourished on top of everything else.

“Don’t wanna go back there,” he gasped.

Natalia tried her best to soothe him, keeping her voice calm. “You don’t have to go back there,” she said, even though she wasn’t sure where ‘there’ was. “You’re safe now. We’re just going to get your wounds treated. All right?”

“Don’t wanna be tied up again.”

It was then that Natalia noticed the scars around his wrists, new over old, telling a story of prolonged restraint and a picture began to form in her mind about what might have happened during Rhys’s absence.

“Do you promise not to fight the doctors?”

He was silent for a long moment, breathing finally evening out a little, before he nodded, jaw clenched.

“Then there will be no reason for restraints. They were only worried that you would hurt yourself.”

He finally looked away and nearly collapsed onto the gurney again, seeming to have very little strength. Natalia and the paramedic helped him onto it fully then started to wheel him toward an examination room.

“I’ll inform Dr. John,” the other nurse said as she walked quickly down the hall.

Natalia stood back until the paramedics got the gurney into the room and then she helped one of them lead Rhys to the exam bed.

He sat there, swaying, hands gripping the sides of the bed. His tail had curled around his leg in a nervous manner.

“Lay down,” Natalia told him calmly. “You can rest until Dr. John arrives.”

“Don’t want to,” he grit out, even as he swayed, hands clenching tighter to keep himself upright.

Natalia narrowed her eyes at him slightly. “Are you experiencing any dizziness?”

He grunted noncommittedly and she held up a hand, not quite touching him, but guiding all the same. “Please lay down if you feel like you’re going to fall off the bed.”

He seemed surprised when she didn’t force him and stared at her warily as if he were waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Natalia, instead turned to the supply cupboards in the room and started to lay out the things Dr. John would need for the examination. As her back was mostly turned away, she saw the figure slump and finally slowly lower himself onto his side on the bed. She smiled a little to herself, but didn’t acknowledge it.

She picked up a blood pressure cuff and turned, holding it up for him to see. “Rhys, I’m going to take your blood pressure and check a few other things before Dr. John arrives.”

He instantly went on alert again, his ears folding back on his head slightly. He shook his head. “No. I don’t want it.”

“It will only take a minute and I promise it won’t hurt.” She assured him. “But with your weak heart it’s important we take a look, okay?”

She watched as his breathing picked up, the sound rasping in his chest. It was starting to concern her and she quickly set the blood pressure cuff down.

“Rhys,” she said, her voice sharp. “You need to calm down and breathe. I promise you no one is here to hurt you.”

“You’ll just send me back there,” he gasped, a soft whimper in his tone as he shrunk away from her. “Took so long to get free—”

He started to cough and she risked crossing boundaries to take a firm hold of his shoulder, keeping him upright as she hurriedly ducked in to get his attention.

“Rhys! Look at me. Just take a deep breath.”

He fought against her, but he was incredibly weak, only managing to make himself topple over onto the bed again. His large brown eyes were panicked, mouth open as he fought for breath.

She was about to call for help when Dr. John showed up and instantly saw the scene in front of him. He rushed to ready an oxygen tank and, with Natalia’s help, fixed it over Rhys’s mouth. He still fought, but once he realized that it would help him breathe and oxygen filled his lungs again, he seemed to calm down a little.

“You’re good, you’re doing all right,” Natalia said softly as she eased him back against the slightly raised bed.

Dr. John quickly checked Rhys’s pulse, despite his attempts to squirm away.

“Rhys, I’m Dr. John. I have to admit it’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot of stories about you from the hybrids around here.”

Rhys watched him with suspicion, but didn’t offer anything else.

“I’d like to examine your injuries,” Dr. John said, calm but with no room for argument.

Rhys shook his head. “N-no! Don’t touch them, they’ll hurt.”

“I’m sure they do hurt,” Dr. John said, not unkindly. “Some of these look to be infected.”

Rhys’s breath created condensation on the underside of the oxygen mask as he started to breath more heavily again. “Just leave me alone.”

“Rhys,” Dr. John said, voice turning more stern. “While I’m not sure what led you to be in this state, our job here is to give medical care to hybrids. I know it may be uncomfortable, but your wounds need to be tended to. I don’t want to see you suffer more than you already have.”

Rhys looked away, but didn’t protest as Dr. John reached for his left arm first, inspecting several lacerations, as well as the marks of repeated restraint on his wrists.

Natalia busied herself fetching what Dr. John would need on a tray, then helped him coax Rhys into undressing so they could see the rest of his injuries.

Rhys shivered, and fought at first, but as soon as Natalia fetched a clean pair of comfortable clothing to replace the ripped and filthy ones Rhys had been wearing, he seemed to calm down a little and resigned himself to a full exam.

Natalia was good at keeping her feelings under wraps when it came to her work. However, the sight of abuse on Rhys’ body made her stomach clench with pity. There was hardly a spot on his body that was not covered in bruises, particularly bad around his ribs and stomach. In addition to that, multiple cuts and lacerations in various stages of healing were scattered across his flesh, some very obviously infected. Under those were scars, telling the story of long-term torture. A hot flare of anger rushed through her. She hoped that whoever did this would be brought to justice.

By the time Dr. John finished cleaning and bandaging the final abrasion, Rhys was shaking with exhaustion.

“There we go, that’s all done,” the doctor stated.

“You did very well, Rhys, thank you for allowing Dr. John to look at you,” Natalia told him.

His tail shifted a little on the bed, but his shoulders were still hunched.

Dr. John finished his exam, checking Rhys’s eyes and ears, and listening to his heart and lungs. He frowned a little as he heard the wheezing.

Once he had finished, Natalia offered Rhys help to dress in the clean clothes.

“Your injuries should all heal given the proper care,” Dr. John said. “But you’re also suffering from malnutrition. What has your diet been like, Rhys?”

The hybrid glanced down, picking at the hem of his shirt. “I-I haven’t eaten much. Only fed me o-once a day. If I was lucky.”

Dr. John nodded, not acknowledging the obvious for the moment. “We’ll put you on an IV drip and start with some easy and nutritious foods then.”

Rhys continued his nervous fidgeting. “How long do I have to stay here?”

“That depends on your recovery,” Dr. John told him. “Considering your current condition and medical history I would like to keep you here under observation for at least a week, probably longer.”

That seemed that have a poor effect on Rhys. He started to push himself closer to the edge of the bed again as if he was going to try to leave right then. “I don’t want to stay here that long!”

“And where would you be going?” Dr. John asked, pointed, but not unkind. “To sleep on the streets? That’s no place for someone in your current condition.”

Rhys ducked his head, ears twitching in uncertainty. Natalia stepped forward, offering a smile.

“We’ll make sure you’re comfortable here, I promise,” she said. “Once you regain your strength we’ll even let you eat whatever you want.”

He remained silent, and Dr. John continued. “We’ll get you set up in a room soon. But first I want to send you for a chest scan and an EKG so we can properly determine the condition of your heart and lungs.”

Rhys seemed to balk at that again. “I don’t want to do that.”

“It won’t hurt,” Natalia told him.

“But I don’t want it!”

“It’s necessary for your proper treatment,” Dr. John said firmly.

“Then I don’t want proper treatment!”

Seeing his agitation, Natalia cut in. “Doctor, maybe we should get him settled in his room first. We can schedule the tests for tomorrow, right?”

Dr. John pursed his lips, but relented. “I suppose we can wait until tomorrow. But if your condition changes at all during the night, Rhys, we’ll need to do the scans immediately.”

The hybrid looked away, his thin frame trembling slightly.

“We can put him in room 18,” Dr. John told Natalia. “I’ll call Heather and David to come help you.”

Natalia nodded and a few minutes later the other nurses showed up with a wheelchair. Natalia coaxed Rhys to sit down despite his obvious stubborn reluctance.

She wheeled him down the hall toward the room he would be staying in and with the help of the others, got him tucked into bed. It took some coaxing to get him to stay still long enough for them to put the IV in, but once they did, getting the nutrients and pain medicine into him, Rhys seemed to lose all the strength he had left and finally fell into a fitful sleep.

Natalia watched over him for a moment before leaving the room to go see to other patients. Throughout her shift though, Rhys was at the forefront of her mind. She wondered what had happened to him in the time he had been missing? It had obviously been traumatic, considering this was not the cocky, kind troublemaker she had heard about from the other local homeless hybrids. She really hoped that eventually he might be able to heal from whatever horrible experience he had been forced into.

Dr. John found her as she was finishing up her shift, giving her a smile.

“You were very good with Rhys today, Natalia. He seems to trust you.”

Natalia shrugged. “I did the best I could. I know it’s not going to be easy. He’s obviously been through a traumatic event.”

The doctor nodded solemnly, his pinched brows the only crack in his professional mask. It wasn’t the first time he’d treated an abused hybrid of course, but there was something particularly sinister about the things Rhys had said in passing.

“Considering the current circumstance, I’ve decided to make a report to the police,” Dr. John said. “A detective is coming tomorrow morning to take Rhys’s statement. I’d like you to be there with him.”

Natalia nodded. “Of course, doctor. I’d be happy to.”

Dr. John smiled. “Thank you. I wanted to make sure the interview happened before his tests so he might have a little more energy.”

Natalia completed her tasks and talked to the nurse on duty to make sure she would keep an eye on Rhys until she got back in the morning.

The thought of the terrified hybrid refused to leave Natalia’s mind as she went home to shower and get some sleep. She of course knew that there were people out there who abused hybrids just as there were those who abused people and animals. But Rhys’s case was the most severe she had seen since she had started to work for the clinic. It just made her heart ache in the worst way.

The next morning, she woke as refreshed as possible and headed back in to start her shift.

The first thing she did upon clocking in was head to Rhys’s room. He was awake and sitting up, picking at some breakfast. He looked up at her as she came in, tail shifting slightly as she smiled.

“Good morning, Rhys. How are you feeling?”

He shrugged. “Fine, I guess.”

Natalia motioned to the barely touched food. “I would have thought you’d be hungry.”

He pressed his lips together, ears drooping slightly. “Eating too much makes me feel sick.”

“Hmm, well, if you didn’t each much for an extended period than it’s best to go slow. Let your stomach adjust.”

She checked his vitals and noted everything down on his chart.

“Did they tell you a detective was going to come talk to you this morning?”

He shifted uncomfortably, hunching his shoulders, and nodded. “Yeah, but…I don’t want to talk to them.”

Natalia turned to him with a reassuring look. “I’ll be here with you the whole time. No one is going to force you to talk, but it is important that you tell us whatever you can about…what happened to you. That way we can make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Rhys fidgeted with the blanket on his lap, his tail curling around himself. “O-okay. I’ll try.”

Natalia nodded gratefully and took the tray from him after he ate a little more.

It wasn’t long before the detective showed up. A kind-looking middle-aged woman with red hair tied up on her head. She gave Rhys a friendly nod as she pulled out her notebook.

“Hello Rhys, I’m Detective Rebecca. If it’s okay, I’d like to talk about what happened to you.”

Natalia took a seat near Rhys’s bed, staying in his line of sight.

Rhys continued to fiddle with the blanket, looking down at his bandaged wrists.

“How did you end up in this condition, Rhys?”

He shrugged.

The detective was patient, coaxing. “Did someone take you off the streets? There were several reports of hybrids going missing around the same time as you did.”

Rhys took a little shuddering breath and his heartrate monitor spiked slightly. “I…yes. I was…walking one of the younger hybrids back to their sleeping place one night. Someone…pulled up in a van, and they…” He clenched the blanket between his hands. “I pushed the other hybrid away but I wasn’t quick enough to get away too.”

The detective nodded, taking down notes. “Do you know where you were taken?”

Rhys swallowed hard. “I don’t know…I…I was knocked out. Woke up in a dark basement and…”

The heartrate monitor spiked again and Detective Rebecca glanced over at Natalia, waiting for her okay.

Natalia reached out to pat Rhys’s arm. “Just breathe. You’re doing well. I know this is hard, but what you’re saying is very important.”

He swallowed hard, breathing through his nose, and finally calmed down. Natalia nodded to the detective.

“You don’t have to go into detail unless it’s relevant, Rhys,” Detective Rebecca said kindly. “Was it just one person who took you?”

His brow furrowed as if he were trying to remember. “There were more than one in the van. But once I was…there…it was only ever one man.”

The detective nodded, writing more notes. “Do you know his name?”

Rhys shook his head. “I never heard it. He always made me call him ‘master’.”

Natalia’s brows pinched.

“Do you think you could describe what he looks like?” Detective Rebecca asked.

Rhys thought for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah. I think so.”

Detective Rebecca turned to Natalia. “We’ll send a sketch artist over later today, if that’s okay?”

Natalia nodded. “Yes, that would be fine, as long as he’s not resting.”

“Understood.” She turned back to Rhys. “Rhys, were there other hybrids with you?”

His hands clenched tighter in the blanket again. “Y-yes. I never saw them but…I heard them, sometimes.”

He shook a little, and Natalia put a steadying hand on his arm again. His tail flicked a little as if in gratitude.

“How is it that you were able to escape?”

Rhys pursed his lips, shutting his eyes briefly. “I was taken in the van…somewhere. He said something about a ‘buyer’.”

Natalia let her hand clench in her lap. The man was likely some kind of black-market hybrid trafficker then. A lot of homeless hybrids were unfortunately victims of similar crimes all too often, no matter how careful they were or how cautious they were about staying in groups.

“I…honestly don’t know how I escaped. I just remember him leaving me in the van, and I was able to get my restraints loose and escape out the back. I just…ran. I didn’t even realize where I was until I ended up here.”

Detective Rebecca finished taking down her notes. “Thank you, Rhys. That was very helpful.”

Natalia smiled and patted his arm again.

“We’re going to do our best to see that your kidnapper comes to justice,” the detective said as she stood up.

“And the…other hybrids?” Rhys asked hesitantly.

“If we can find him, we’ll find them,” she said.

He seemed to relax just slightly as the detective took her leave, leaning back against the pillows.

“Did I really help?” he asked.

“Yes,” Natalia promised. “And you’ll help even more when the sketch artist comes.”

The hybrid shivered a little. “I definitely remember what he looked like,” he said softly.

Natalia gave him a sympathetic look. “It’s very brave of you to talk about it. I know it’s hard.”

He looked away, shrugging as if pretending nonchalance, but she could still see the tightness in his muscles, the consistent inability to relax. It was understandable. Anyone who had gone through prolonged abuse like that would be untrusting of apparent peace.

“Is there anything I can get you?”

Rhys shook his head. “No.”

“Alright. I have to check in on some other patients, but I’ll be back later.”

His ears drooped just a little, but he again shrugged indifferently.

Natalia left, going on her rounds before finishing with some quick paperwork before heading back to Rhys’s room. They would be taking him for the tests soon, so she wanted to make sure he was settled.

Before she could even get there though, alarms blared from his room and her heart kicked into overdrive, sprinting the rest of the way.

She expected to find Rhys in some kind of catatonic state of distress, but instead, he simply shot his head up at her arrival with a guilty expression as wires from the heartrate monitor hung from his mouth.

“Rhys!” Natalia snapped.

He instantly dropped them as she went to turn off the machine.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m sorry,” he babbled, genuine fear in his eyes.

Dr. John rushed in a second later, frowning. “What happened?”

“He chewed the wires,” Natalia explained.

The doctor gave Rhys a stern look. “Rhys, we talked about that last night.”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry, I promise I won’t do it again!”

The genuine terror in his eyes, burrowed into Natalia’s heart. Dr. John softened as well as he set about checking the wires.

“Rhys,” Natalia said gently. “Breathe. No one is going to hurt you, we were afraid you would electrocute yourself.”

“And we need this machine working properly to make sure your heart is okay,” Dr. John added.

Rhys’s breathing started to rasp slightly again and Natalia prepared the oxygen mask again, getting it over his twitching ears with some difficulty. He finally started to breathe better and settle. Natalia pulled the blanket up to his waist again.

“I’ll find you something else to occupy yourself with,” Natalia said kindly, stepping back and allowing Dr. John to press the stethoscope to Rhys’s chest. The hybrid flinched at the cold bell, but stayed docile.

“Yes,” Dr. John added. “You can tell Nurse Natalia what you’d like after your tests. It would be good for you to have something to do between resting.”

Rhys flinched a little at the mention of tests again, but he was mostly concentrating on breathing. Dr. John finally stepped back, taking the stethoscope from his ears.

“I know the aftermath of an event like this is difficult, Rhys,” he said. “But you do need to be careful not to overexert yourself.”

The hybrid looked away.

“We’ll take you back for the tests in half an hour. In the meantime, just try to rest a little.”

Natalia stayed with Rhys during that time, finally removing the oxygen mask when his breathing evened out again.

“I promise the tests won’t hurt,” she told him. “They’re just going to look at your heart and lungs. It will just be a few more wires than you already have on.”

“I won’t chew them,” Rhys muttered, looking away as his ears lowered.

Natalia laughed lightly. “Good. If you do what the doctors ask it won’t take long at all.”

He still didn’t look at her, but she sensed him relaxing a little.

One of the other nurses came to help her bring Rhys to the room where they would run the tests. First, they did a scan on his chest to see if there was any damage to his lungs. Rhys squirmed a little, but for the most part complied.

He was a little less compliant as they attached all the nodes and straps to his chest for the EKG test, but once he realized they weren’t going to actually restrain him, he seemed to calm down a little. Natalia spoke to him the whole time, trying to keep him distracted so the reading could be as accurate as possible.

He was exhausted by the time it was finally over and went back to his room without trouble, falling asleep almost instantly.

Natalia went to finish up some other work, then headed to Dr. John’s office when he called her.

He glanced up from some papers he was looking over as she came in, nodding to her.

“Did you get the results?” Natalia asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “Rhys is exhibiting a slight arrhythmia which I would like to keep a close eye on. It’s not serious currently, but any added stress will be an unwanted strain that could lead to more serious issues. The same goes for his lungs. They are slightly damaged. His records show that he had weak lungs already, but with his captivity, abuse, and what I would guess to be repeated use of inhaled sedatives, the issue has grown worse.”

“So, basically, we need to keep him as calm as possible,” Natalia noted.

Dr. John nodded. “Yes. I’m going to be putting him on a regimen of medication for the issues, but it will likely be a little bit before we see positive results. In the meantime, it’s important to relieve any potential stress.”

Natalia nodded. “We’ll do our best, doctor.”

“Indeed.” Dr. John smiled. “I intend to see him back to his former self before this is all over.”

Natalia hoped that Rhys could indeed heal to a state that he was before.

She was glad that the police sketch artist didn’t show up until the evening, after Rhys had eaten dinner. The man was patient and worked with the hybrid, sketching and resketching when Rhys said the face didn’t look right.

Finally, the face of Rhys’s abuser sat on the page.

“It’s him,” he said firmly.

The sketch artist thanked him. “I’ll get this back to the station.”

The hybrid was tense afterward and Natalia tried to distract him with some things she had brought for him, puzzles and such. He dutifully engaged, but it seemed like his mind was elsewhere.

His condition thankfully improved by the day, though he was still suffering from hyperawareness, skittish around most everyone expect Natalia. She was glad he was at least eating more, a little color coming back to his skin. It was still difficult keeping him from stressing himself to his limits, even Rhys didn’t know what might trigger a memory, in which case he would react defensively on instinct.

He seemed to be doing better for the most part, though, which gave Natalia a sense of relief. She had grown fond of a lot of patients over her time as a hybrid vet, but she had never gotten so attached to one like she had Rhys.

Then one night, while it was Natalia’s turn on the overnight rotation, she stopped by Rhys’s room to check on him, only to find he wasn’t in bed.

A quick look toward the small adjoined bathroom told her it was also empty so—

Panic instantly rose in her throat and she was about to go alert the nurse’s station when she heard a soft whimper.

“Rhys?”

She flicked the lamp on in the dark room and stepped around the bed.

Rhys was sitting on the floor against the wall, curled up against the side of the chair that sat under the window. He was shaking, arms wrapped around his knees as another whimper escaped him.

Natalia crouched, reaching out but not touching. “Rhys? What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”

He shook his head, burying his face in his arms.

Natalia didn’t press, she simply sat down next to him, giving him enough space, but close enough to comfort.

“Why aren’t you in bed?”

“Don’t want to sleep anymore,” he muttered.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

He nodded.

Natalia remained silent for a long moment before she said. “You can talk about it if it will help.”

His tail curled around him, coming to rest over his tucked in feet. He didn’t say anything for so long that Natalia didn’t think he would speak at all, but finally he took a breath and said, “I keep thinking about them.”

“Who?”

“The other hybrids.” He raised his head slightly, large brown eyes wet and reddened. “I wish…I could have gotten them out too.”

Natalia carefully reached out and settled a hand on his shoulder. Rhys stiffened but didn’t pull away.

“Sometimes you have to save yourself before you can save others,” she told him gently. “You said you made sure your friend got away when you were captured. That was very brave and selfless.”

“Yeah but…I’m not even good for anything anymore. I used to take care of the other hybrids, make sure they were safe and had what they needed, but now I can’t even take care of myself.”

A helpless tear slid down his cheek and he buried his face in his arms again. “I’m just…useless.”

“You’re not,” Natalia said firmly. “The amount of hybrids I heard mention you since I came to this clinic—I always hoped to meet you some day.”

“You’re disappointed, I’m sure.”

“Not at all. You’re exactly what I thought you’d be like.”

“You’re lying.”

Natalia shook her head. “I can see more than what you’re going through at the moment. I know it’s hard now. I can’t even imagine what you went through, Rhys, but that kind of thing doesn’t go away overnight. It doesn’t go away after a week, a month, sometimes even years. But things do get better. It gets easier to stop thinking about it. Especially when you start to feel better and you can more easily distract yourself with other things again.”

“But what if I can never go back to who I was before?”

“Then you find a new Rhys to become,” Natalia told him. “And that starts with you allowing yourself to heal.”

He stayed silent this time, contemplating her words. Natalia finally stood up, reaching down a hand to Rhys.

“Would you like to get back into bed or would you like to take a little walk to the vending machine?”

He took her hand after only a second and let her pull him to his feet. Instead of answering, he surprised her by wrapping her in a hug, his tail wagging slowly behind him.

“Thanks, Miss Natalia,” he said, genuine and warm. “I really don’t think I would have been able to get through this much without you.”

She smiled fondly and patted his back before he pulled away. “I look forward to seeing you heal a little more every day.”

She knew there would likely be setbacks, both mentally and physically, but the Rhys she had seen tonight seemed like he was on the right track and that was a good place to start.

Natalia knew that no matter what, she would be there to witness the rest of his journey.

She nodded, but her eyes caught on Ariadne as she came up, widening with excited awe.

“Miss Hunter! You were amazing fighting all those Wanderers!” she said enthusiastically.

Ari smiled, a little self-conscious. “Oh, well, it’s all part of the job.”

“I wanna be a Hunter too when I grow up!”

The girl’s mother thanked Zayne and took her daughter by the hand as she turned to Ariadne.

“Thank you for all you and your colleagues do,” she said sincerely.

Ari ducked her head a little, then heard Zayne chuckle as they walked away.

“You shouldn’t look so bashful, you did protect these people’s lives.”

“I’m not bashful, I just…it feels weird being praised for my job.”

“Hm.” Zayne hummed as he closed the box of medical supplies before he turned to her. “And you? Are you injured?”

“Only a couple bruises; nothing to write home about,” she replied, allowing Zayne to rub his thumb over some dirt on her cheek. “Sorry our lunch date was ruined.”

Zayne smiled. “We have to expect it will happen sometimes. After all, both of us work jobs where we are often on call.”

One of the other injured civilians started to stand up from the bench, holding his head where Zayne had applied a bandage a few minutes earlier. The doctor’s eyes instantly flashed as he saw him stagger.

“Sir, please sit, the paramedics will be taking you to the hospital soon to properly see to your concussion.”

“So dizzy,” the man muttered as he swayed.

Ari was the closest, so when the man reached out and started to fall, he crashed into her shoulder.

Zayne somehow steadied her and caught the patient at the same time, but the container holding the Protocore slipped from Ari’s fingers, cracking against the flagstones.

“Dammit,” she hissed.

Zayne forced the man to sit back down, glancing over at her. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just…the container broke.”

Luckily the paramedics had finally arrived and were taking the more heavily injured civilians to Akso hospital. Zayne gave them brief rundowns before joining Ari as she bent to pick up the Protocore.

“Here, you should use gloves,” he said quickly and bent to help her.

They touched the Protocore at the same time and it sparked, causing them both to drop it.

“The hell?” Ari yanked her hand back.

“Is that…normal?” Zayne asked.

Before she could answer, her Hunter’s watch started to beep, giving off metaflux readings.

“We need to get this thing contained again.” She tapped into the comms. “Does anyone have another containment unit for the Protocore?”

Luckily, she was able to get it contained again within a few minutes, but still had a weird feeling about it.

“This was the cause of the disturbance, no?” Zayne asked as Ari studied the crystal now that it was secured again.

“I think so. Sometimes old Protocores can be unearthed and cause issues. The park has been undergoing some renovations so…” She glanced at Zayne a little apologetically. “I need to get back to HQ and see this taken care of.”

“Of course, I also need to head back. My break went unexpectedly long—I have patients who will be waiting for me.”

She straightened up, feeling a slightly uncommon ache in her lower back and feet as if she had stood for a long time. She didn’t think much of it though.

Zayne leaned in to give her a quick kiss. “Next time, we’ll hopefully have a more relaxing lunch.”

She smiled and turned, only to trip over a flipped bench, smashing her shin.

Ari swore, bending to rub her leg as she heard Zayne grunt in surprise.

“I just can’t win today,” she growled.

As Ariadne turned back to Zayne, she saw him looking down at his leg, confused.

“Zayne?”

He stayed silent for a moment, then shook himself. “Nothing. Sympathetic pain, I suppose.”

Ari laughed a little. “Hope you don’t share that with all your patients Dr. Zayne.”

He smiled, and gave her a wave as they parted ways. “Only you. Be more careful.”

Ariadne dropped the Protocore off at Hunter’s HQ and made her report to Captain Jenna. After finishing up some paperwork, she went home for the evening, taking a nice hot shower and going to bed.

She was tired after the long day and the slightly odd scene from earlier didn’t even cross her mind again. She simply texted Zayne goodnight and fell asleep.

The next couple days she felt abnormally tired like she had gotten far less sleep than she was used to. Her eyes hurt too like she had been looking at a computer screen for far too long and her right wrist ached a little. Weirdly, one of her teeth also ached. Maybe she should take the advice she was always giving Zayne and cut back on the sugar a little.

She chocked it all up to poor sleep, even though she had gotten her normal amount of hours.

However, she woke one morning to a familiar pain in her lower belly and back and groaned, dragging herself out of bed to find some pain pills. That explained the tiredness, then.

She shuffled into the kitchen to make herself some ginger tea, when her phone rang. She turned the kettle on and grabbed her phone.

“Hello?” she asked groggily.

“Good morning,” Zayne’s voice came on the other end, slightly tight. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“I was already up,” she yawned, fumbling for the tea in the cupboard.

“Menstrual cramps?”

She frowned. She knew she was pretty regular but… “How do you—?”

Zayne huffed a sigh. “I didn’t think much of it at the park the other day. It’s common to experience phantom pain when you see someone hurt themselves, especially someone you care for. But I am certain something is going on now, and I believe that Protocore was the cause.”

Ariadne tried to make sense of what he was saying. “Zayne it’s too early, I don’t understand…”

“I felt it when you hit your shin at the park,” he stated. “And yesterday you strained a muscle during your workout—I did tell you not to do such vigorous exercises near your period—and then of course today, well…it would be quite odd for me to experience phantom pain in an organ I do not have, and I have ruled out every other possibility.”

Ari blinked, finally understanding. “You can feel my cramps?”

“…Yes,” the soft sigh came over the line.

Everything clicked then. “The toothache! I should have known.”

“Ah, yes…I apologize for that.”

“This is really weird. I’ll call HQ today to see if they have any info on that Protocore.”

“I’ll come over to your place. I’m…going to take a sick day.”

Ari couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Too much for you?”

“I am quite uncomfortable.”

“We’ll get through it together then,” she said good-naturedly and ended the call before pulling out another mug and bag of tea.

While she waited for Zayne, she sent a quick message to Nero to ask him to look into the Protocore and find out if there was precedence for this kind of thing.

Zayne showed up before long, and Ariadne took one look at his slightly hunched figure, his jaw set tightly, and pulled him toward the couch.

“Poor Dr. Zayne. Do you want a heating pad?”

He handed her a shopping bag. “I was planning to take care of you today—best to treat the source of the problem.”

“Well, let’s just hope this isn’t permanent,” she replied and went back to the kitchen. “I made some ginger tea.”

Zayne accepted the tea as they curled up on the couch together.

“I asked Nero at the Association to look into the Protocore. Hopefully he’ll be able to find something. It’s really strange though, isn’t it?”

Zayne hummed, sipping the hot tea. “There’s still a lot we don’t know about Protocores and their effects on the human body—and mind, for that matter. This seems to lie somewhere between a mental and physical influence.”

Zayne set the tea down and leaned back against the couch, one hand over his abdomen as his brows drew together. “Is it always this painful?”

Ariadne leaned against his shoulder, patting his stomach in sympathy. “Sometimes it’s worse than others. I’m sorry you got a bad month.”

“Well, at the very least I have gained new medical insight about female physiology that would not have been possible otherwise,” Zayne said with a wry smile, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “And I get to take the day off to look after you—even if I can’t do it to my full capacity.”

“Well, your toothache isn’t fun either,” I muttered, rubbing my jaw. “When we figure out how to reverse this, you’re going to the dentist.”

Zayne grunted.

Ari retrieved her heating pad and plugged it in, surprising Zayne by pressing it against his stomach.

“You should—”

Before he could finish his protest, Ariadne pushed him back against the couch and laid down on top of him, pressing the heating pad between them. She nuzzled contentedly into his chest and Zayne huffed a laugh, wrapping his arms around her.

“That works too.”

They spent a wonderfully lazy morning watching TV and napping. Ari got a text from Nero saying he was looking into the Protocore, but they didn’t hear back until later that afternoon after Zayne made rice porridge for lunch.

She was almost asleep again when the phone rang. She yawned and picked it up.

“Hey, Nero.”

“Ariadne, I ended up finding a case from a few years ago that’s similar to what you and Dr. Zayne are experiencing. In this one, two Hunters who were exposed to the Protocore ended up experiencing each other’s emotions, but the Protocore from that case had the same protocurve as the one you found yesterday at the park. One of the Hunter’s was also an Anhaunsen Class Evolver, which I think has something to do with the fact that it effected both of them—and would obviously be the same in your case.”

Ari glanced toward Zayne, who had his brow furrowed. “Interesting. So, how did they reverse it?”

“They didn’t, it simply wore off after a few days,” Nero said. “Sorry, Ariadne, but I don’t think there’s a way to speed this up. We can just hope that it has a similar lifespan to the previous case.”

Ari sighed. “Alright. Thanks for your help, Nero.”

She groaned as she dropped her phone back on the coffee table. “Well, good to know it’s probably not permanent, I guess.”

“These kind of effects from Protocores are rarely permanent,” Zayne reassured. “But we should be prepared for it to last at least a week.”

Ari sighed and curled up on the couch again. “This sucks. I’m sorry, Zayne.”

“At least one of us isn’t badly injured currently. It could be worse.” He cleared his throat though and still shifted a bit uncomfortably. “Time for your next dose of pain medicine?”

“Oh, yeah. Guess I’ll take it for both of us,” she replied and dutifully took the pills before turning the TV on and laying back down against Zayne.

He pulled her against him, spooning her from behind as he gently massaged her stomach. “Just relax for today,” he murmured into the top of her head. “We can’t do anything about it, so we may as well enjoy a well-deserved day off.”

She hummed, comforted by his gentle ministrations as they watched movies and napped for the rest of the afternoon.

After ordering takeout for dinner, she convinced Zayne to stay over so they could suffer together. Despite napping a good portion of the day, she still fell asleep easily, happy to sleep off the worst of the cramps with Zayne’s warmth beside her.

She slept so deeply, in fact, that she only barely woke when she felt Zayne shift, and heard him talking quietly.

“That’s fine. I’ll be there soon.”

Ari pried her eyes open. “Mm…Zayne?”

He leaned over, stroking her hair gently. “You’re feeling better.” A statement, not a question. She laughed sleepily and he smiled. “I need to go into the hospital. But I’ll call you on my break. Don’t do anything to tax yourself today.”

“I promise I’m used to this,” she said fondly. “But you should take more time to sit down too. My back has been hurting for days in places in never does.”

He chuckled and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “I’ll do what I can. Take it easy today, Ari.”

She curled into the warm spot he had left, knowing she would be taking his advice since she was rarely in top form the first couple days of her period. At least the cramps had subsided—good for both of them.

She slept a few more hours before getting up and lounging around, catching up on some paperwork and doing some light cleaning around her apartment.

While she was vacuuming, however, she stubbed her toe and swore loudly. It was only after the pain subsided that she recalled her current predicament and grabbed her phone.

I’m so sorry. I’ll stop cleaning for now.

Zayne replied to the text a few minutes later with a pointedly staring Happy Snowman.

It’s all right. Luckily, I wasn’t in a surgery. The patient I was seeing at the time was probably wondering why I suddenly jumped, however.

Ari couldn’t’ help but laugh as the pictured the scene.

I guess I underestimate how many times I obtain minor injuries during the day.

You are rather accident prone. Perhaps you should refrain from more physical activities until this wears off. Try reading a book.

She huffed a little, but took his advice, searching for one of the books she rarely had time to read as she texted him back.

By the way, you should use your wrist brace, your carpel tunnel is acting up again.

…Yes, thank you for the reminder.

She plucked one of her sadly abandoned books and curled up on the couch to read for the rest of the day. She dozed off sometime late in the afternoon and didn’t wake until it was dark outside.

Checking her phone, she saw it was already almost 10 PM

“Agh, my sleep schedule,” she moaned. At least she was on leave from work until further notice. Jenna said that she wasn’t allowed to come back until the symptoms from the Protocore wore off.

She was starving, having missed dinner, and made herself a quick meal, seeing a text from Zayne from about an hour ago, saying he was heading home for the night and to let him know if she needed anything.

She didn’t reply since she figured he would probably be trying to sleep by now, and turned the TV on to keep her company while she ate.

She was engrossed in the drama, watching it as she cleaned up her dishes more slowly than usual, eyes wide as the plot unfolded.

She was just reaching up blindly into the cupboard to put away a bowl when pain seared down her right arm.

Ari gasped in shock, the bowl falling to the floor with a crash.

The pain didn’t stop. It only crept further up her arm from her wrist to her shoulder, like thorns digging into her flesh.

She staggered back against the counter, nearly blinded by the pain. It felt like it was boring straight into her bones, sharp, aching and....

Cold.

“Zayne,” she suddenly gasped as some form of reality returned to her. She hugged her arm to herself, staggering toward her phone and hitting Zayne’s contact.

It felt like an eternity before he picked up, and when he finally did, her worst fears were confirmed as she heard his labored breathing on the other end.

“Zayne? Are you alright?” Ariadne demanded.

There was a long pause before he gritted out, “I’m…sorry…”

“D-don’t apologize. I’m coming to you.”

She didn’t give him a chance to protest, simply ended the call and ordered a taxi instead, knowing she wasn’t going to be able to drive by herself right now.

When her driver got there, he gave her one look and instantly turned concerned.

“Are you okay, miss? Do you need a hospital?”

“N-no, I…please just take me to…”

She gave him Zayne’s address and tried to hide the pain still digging into her arm and shoulder as he drove her to Zayne’s apartment.

When she finally stepped out of the car, she rushed to his door, fumbling with the key code.

“Zayne!” she called as soon as she got inside, looking around.

He wasn’t anywhere in direct sight, so she headed back to his bedroom.

There was a dim light coming from under the door. She pushed it open and frowned as she still didn’t see Zayne, but a shuddering breath finally helped her locate him.

She rounded the bed and saw him on the floor, propped against the side of the bed frame. His body shuddered as he curled into himself, clutching his right arm tightly. Foggy vapors swirled around him and she could feel the drop in temperature increasing the closer she got to him. Her feet crunched in the hoarfrost that was already forming on the carpet.

“God, Zayne,” Ari gasped as she saw him, instantly kneeling as she gritted her teeth against the pain she was also feeling.

He panted, jaw tight as he gave her a wan glance. “I’m sorry…Ari…I didn’t want…uuugh.” His features twisted in agony, head tilting back. Ari felt the brief surge in pain as well, unable to help a gasp. “I never wanted…you to…experience this…”

For some reason, the fact that he was more concerned about her when she was just feeling his pain second hand broke something open inside of her. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she reached out to put a hand on his chest, the other cupping his cheek.

“Does it always hurt like this?” she asked, voice breaking as more tears slipped free.

Zayne took a deep breath, gritting his teeth. “Yes.”

She bit back a sob, trying to gather herself. Zayne reached out with his good hand and stroked the back of her head, pulling her toward him. “I’m sorry it hurts so much…give it a…few minutes.”

“Zayne,” she fought back another sob as he tried to comfort her, pushing away from him slightly to take his hand in hers, squeezing. “I’m not crying because it hurts, I’m crying because you never told me it hurt this bad. This is…awful.”

He let out a shaky breath. “I-I’m used to it now. Mmhmn…”

Ariadne watched the ice start to creep up his neck, feeling it as it burrowed further.

She slid her hand over to the shoulder ravaged by the ice. “Let me help, please, Zayne.”

His eyes shot open with a brief glint of fear. “No…it’s too…dangerous.”

She shook her head. “I’ll go slow.”

She gathered her Evol, concentrating through the pain, and reached out to Zayne’s familiar signature. It felt jagged, tumultuous like an ice storm. She felt another flare of pain, but gritted her teeth against it and pushed her Evol into Zayne. She heard his gasp, his body stiffening. The ice crackled under her hand, dissipating. She could feel the pain start to subside from her own shoulder, working its way down her arm before a dull ache began in her chest.

Zayne grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away, panting. “That’s enough…for now…”

She nodded and let him pull her closer to him, both of them taking a moment to breathe through the pain. Zayne’s breaths puffed against the top of her head, his good arm curled around her waist.

“What happened, Zayne?” Ari finally asked.

He let out a long breath. “It was…just a nightmare. It happens sometimes.”

“This seems worse than usual.”

He shrugged with one arm. “Sometimes certain things exacerbate it. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes it just jumps on me. I didn’t want this to happen while we were connected, but it’s possible the effects of the Protocore made me more susceptible....”

“Stop apologizing,” Ari chided, sniffing wetly, pulling away to take his face between her hands, forcing him to look at her. “Maybe this was for the best. After all, would you ever have admitted to just how much this hurt otherwise?”

He sighed, brow furrowed. “I hate to see you cry over it. It’s not your burden to bear.”

She reached down and placed her hand over his still icy wrist. “It is tonight,” she reminded him.

Zayne took a shuddering breath, tensing again. “I supposed you’re right.”

She gently coaxed her Evol to resonate with him again. Zayne grunted as she forced the rest of the ice away, feeling little more than a dull ache in her lower arm now. She threaded her fingers through Zayne’s cold ones, squeezing as he collapsed back against the bed, breathing more deeply as the pain subsided.

Ice crystals still attempted to form on his hand, breaking his skin, but Zayne seemed to be able to force them away himself.

“Is there anything else I can do?” Ari asked softly.

Zayne shook his head and pulled her close again. “Just…stay with me.”

Ari straddled his lap so she could lean more comfortably against his chest, letting him wrap his arms around her. His hands still trembled against her back, but the crystals stopped forming and he seemed comforted by her warm weight against him. She closed her eyes as she focused on his heart beating against her chest, feeling it even out and sync with hers as the pain continued to subside.

They stayed like that for a long time before Ari finally murmured, “Zayne…your back isn’t going to get any better sitting like this.”

He huffed a laugh, squeezing her more tightly against him. “Perhaps not, but I am comfortable.”

“The bed is literally right here.”

“Mmhm,” he hummed, still making no move to rectify their position.

Ari found she cared less as Zayne’s temperature evened out and the chill went away, replaced by warmth seeping into her. Her eyelids drooped.

She was only vaguely aware of Zayne eventually tucking both of them into bed with her still held tightly to his chest.

***

The next morning Ariadne had the rare opportunity to wake before Zayne, finding herself blessed by his soft, unbothered expression as his even breathing tickled her hair.

She quickly checked to make sure all the traces of ice were gone, but Zayne seemed to be at his normal temperature, sleeping peacefully.

She couldn’t quite resist the urge to lean in and kiss the tip of his nose. Zayne snuffled in his sleep and subconsciously pulled her closer. Nuzzling into her cheek.

“Mm, good morning,” he murmured.

Ari smiled. “Good morning. How do you feel?”

“Hmm, considering I have my best medicine with me, I believe my recovery will be swift.”

“Good.”

Zayne held her for a long time, both of them simply enjoying the quiet moment before Zayne said, “I didn’t thank you…for last night. I’m used to dealing with it myself, but it’s significantly easier with you.”

Ari reached up and traced her fingers across his cheek. “How long would you have been suffering last night if I hadn’t known to come help you?”

Zayne shrugged, trying to avoid her gaze but she caught his chin and forced him to look at her.

“Never hesitate to call me. Next time, I doubt we’ll be tethered by this Protocore. Zayne is going to have to use his words.”

Zayne took a slightly shaky breath but the fondness in his eyes showed through.

“You’re not going to take no for an answer.”

“Absolutely not,” Ari replied firmly and pushed herself up as Zayne frowned. She smiled. “I’ll be back. I’m just going to make coffee.”

Zayne reluctantly let her go. As Ari slid out of bed, she accidently tripped over Zayne’s slippers and bumped her knee against the bed frame.

“Agh—jeez I can’t believe I’m so clumsy lately.”

She bent to rub her knee as Zayne sat up.

“Sorry—”

“No, I…believe our issue might be solved,” he said.

“You didn’t feel that?”

Zayne shook his head and pinched his forearm. “Can you feel that?”

Ari shook her head. “Nope. Actually, can’t feel your toothache anymore either.”

Zayne huffed a wry laugh. “Ah. Well, I can, so I suppose that concludes our diagnosis.”

“It has been about a week, it must have just run its course. Or maybe resonating last night kind of…reset it?”

“Perhaps. Whatever the case, I’m glad to be rid of it. I now feel more prepared should you be seriously injured.”

“Why do you just assume it would be me?”

He gave her a baleful look. “Do I really have to explain my reasoning?”

Ari wrinkled her nose at him and hurried to the kitchen to make some coffee. While it was brewing she set up a breakfast tray with some cut fruit and toast as well, carrying it all back to Zayne’s room.

He smiled fondly as she set it between them on the bed.

“I don’t usually get to enjoy breakfast in bed,” he said.

“Well, you deserve to be pampered every once in a while. Especially when you had such a rough night.” She glanced at him, unable to hide her concern. “You’re really okay?”

Zayne sighed, leaning back against the pillows with his coffee. “I really am used to it. Though the backlash was particularly bad last night.”

Ariadne took his right hand in hers, massaging the meat of his palm, and running her thumbs gently along the fresh scars on the back of his hand and wrist.

“I told you not to look so sad,” Zayne chided. “I can’t control it any more than you can your menstrual cycle.”

“I know, but it’s not natural,” she replied, still frowning. “Very few people have their Evol hurt them like this. I hate that you have to deal with this.”

“Perhaps someday I will be able to find a proper cure,” he said, before enfolding her hand in his slightly cool fingers. “But until then, you’re good medicine to help ease the pain.”

She leaned against his shoulder, threading their fingers together. “Just promise me that you’ll call me from now on. Even if I can’t physically come to see you every time it happens, I want to know that you’re suffering. I don’t want you to keep it from me. You don’t have to go through it alone, Zayne.”

“I suppose that’s a promise I can make,” he agreed and leaned over to kiss her head. “I am hungrier than just fruit and toast can suffice, however. Would you like to go see what we can make for a heartier breakfast?”